Material from disused landfill site falling onto Dorset beach during landslips
Asbestos, metal and brick is ending up on The Spittles at Lyme Regis
There are concerns surrounding the “hidden dangers” on part of the Dorset coast that could bring “dangerous material down onto the beach.”
Stretching from Lyme Regis towards Charmouth, East Cliff beach is a hotspot for fossil hunters scouring the shore collect these artefacts.
But look closer and you can find more than just fossils… Plastic, metal and concrete poke out from the soil and are scattered along the beach. As the tide comes in, smaller items of waste and toxic containments are washed away, further polluting the sea.
It comes from a disused landfill site, behind the Charmouth Road allotments and near The Spittles, which operated as a tip until 1978.
Now, local resident Racheal Pope has raised environmental concerns about the amount of rubbish still buried on the site which slipping down onto the beach below.
She said: “We have just seen masses of metal here… masses of it! is just everywhere.”
Councillor Belinda Bawden added: “The issue we have here in Lyme is that we're below an old unregulated landfill site, so when the cliff falls, it's bringing down all sorts of rubbish from decades ago. Now, the beach is covered with quite a lot of metal, glass and asbestos.”
An engine found on The Spittles
An engine found on The Spittles in Lyme Regis
Dorset Council have visited The Spittles eight times since the beginning of the year.
A spokesperson said:
“Where appropriate (given the feasibility, cost and risk) we remove items or clear areas of beach.”
“We can never entirely eliminate the risk from asbestos containing materials at this site; however, if significant amounts are found, we have advice from our consultants on removal, which we would follow.”
Between Lyme Regis and Charmouth is Europe's most active landslides and since the start of the year, there have been three landslides between Lyme Regis and West Bay.
Scientists at Southampton University expect that the rest of this landfill will be eroded and collapse into the sea within the next century.
They estimate that up to 6,000 cubic metres of waste have gone already and that the former landfill site still contains as much as 42,000 cubic metres or more.
Dorset Council say consultants annually sample the beach and analyse results in accordance with government technical guidance, they determined that “risks from lead are within limits deemed acceptable by DEFRA.”
According to reports in 2019, almost half the contents of the tip had already moved due to landslides but concluded that any hazards posed by the former landfill site were “low risk”.
Cllr Bawden disputed this and said: “It's a constant hazard. The cliffs can fall at any time and it's particularly prone to fall after a period of wet weather but that’s not always the case because when it's dry, it contracts and splits.”